Is Mississippi getting better? Not so much. I'll be willing to bet any amount of money that in 10 years the San Francisco Bay Area will still be creating more GDP, more new companies, more innovation, and more of pretty much everything except obesity than the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas combined despite having half the population. As it has for decades now. This narrative that somehow these places that create most of the country's GDP are populated entirely by you so-called "takers" is just absurd. And given the amount that red states contribute to both our GDP and tax base compared to blue states, it's clear it's simply projection by the real "takers"... conservative states. BTW, I don't mind propping up my red state brethren or anyone else who needs it. Unlike your feelings about our big cities, I wish Mississippi, Alabama and the rest all the best and actually actively work to help accomplish that. They need some help, I'm in a position to provide it. That doesn't make them lazy, communist, brainwashed, takers or anything else. It just makes them fellow Americans who aren't in a position to contribute to our economy as much as the more liberal states are. I wish they'd realize that their conservative viewpoints are contributing to them being last in every metric that counts and first in all the ones they don't want to be, but until they do or even if they never do I'm still willing to help those who live there who are in need. I wonder if you can say the same?